This invention relates to methods of making fire hoses and has a particularly useful but not exclusive application in the manufacture of hoses used in forest fire fighting.
According to a first aspect of this invention, there is proposed a method of making a fire hose of uniform cross-section along its length comprising the steps of forming a tube by extruding onto the internal and external surfaces of a tubular fabric reinforcing jacket made from synthetic textile yarns and having highly crimped weft threads a covering of rubber or curable elastomeric material, confining the tube in a tubular restraining sheath or mould of substantially the same uniform internal diameter as the external diameter of the tube, applying heat and pressure within the tube so as to press the tube into tight engagement with the sheath or mould, substantially preventing radial expansion of the tube whereby curing of the tube is achieved while said weft threads are in a substantially untensioned condition, and removing the finished hose from the sheath or mould on completion of the curing process.
Preferably, the internal surface of the sheath or mould is rough or textured and the external surface of the covering is thus rendered complimentarily rough or textured.
According to a second aspect this invention provides a fire hose comprising a woven or braided tubular jacket having a lining on its internal surface and a covering on its external surface which lining and covering are formed from rubber or elastomeric material, a first set of perforations extending outward through the lining and terminating at the jacket, and a second set of perforations extending through the covering and terminating at the jacket which perforations are staggered with respect to the perforations of the first set.
The invention further provides a method of making a fire hose comprising the steps of forming a tube by extruding a rubber or elastomeric material onto the internal and external surfaces of a woven or braided tubular jacket to form an internal lining and an external covering on the jacket, forming a plurality of first through perforations in the external covering which first perforations terminate at the jacket, and forming a plurality of second perforations extending through the thickness of the lining and terminating at the jacket, which second perforations are offset with respect to said first perforations in the external covering, whereby a flow from the second to the first perforations is constrained to take place along the material of the jacket.